OPEC oil production slumps 25% in March, biggest drop in at least 40 years

Odaily Planet Daily reports that OPEC’s crude output recorded its sharpest monthly fall in at least four decades in March, as Middle East conflict disrupted exports from key members. Surveys indicate the group’s production sank by 7.56 million barrels per day, about 25%, to 22 million bpd. Based on figures compiled by the agency since 1989, the March decline was the largest on record. In absolute terms, the drop also exceeded the reduction seen during the 1973 Arab oil embargo. Daniel Yergin writes in "The Prize" that between October and December that year, the market lost a combined 5 million bpd, though the global market was far smaller at the time. Iraq, the member most reliant on the Strait of Hormuz, posted the steepest contraction, with output falling by 2.76 million bpd to 1.63 million bpd. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates followed, helped by the ability to reroute some exports through alternative pipelines. Saudi output declined by 2.07 million bpd to 8.36 million bpd, while the UAE fell by 1.44 million bpd to 2.16 million bpd. Tanker-tracking data showed Saudi exports dropped about 50% in March despite access to Red Sea routes. (Jin10)